Indy wrestlin’

October 2, 2012 by maffew in Misc.

Summed up in one GIF (which you can see here if you can’t see it below).

Stuff like this doesn’t just not impress me, it bewilders me. You get superplexed, get immediately up and deliver a suplex over the ropes as if nothing happened? Some wrestlers seem more interested on showing off how athletic they are or how tough they are than putting together a match. I don’t care how many Hindu squats you can do…less is more, fuckers.

Cefcasans

GIF please.
http://tmacman.myopenid.com/ tmacman

The gif won’t load for me, is that the statement?

Edit: Oh no, there it is.
CapnFoo

Agreed 100%…. In-ring psychology > athleticism
PlanBFromOuterSpace

Speaking of which, it annoys me when every CZW wrestler I see in Botchamania repeatedly botches moonsaults and/or lands face first on the pavement/turnbuckle/table/etc. and DOESN’T DIE. Really, it’s gruesome, and that’s the only proper way to sell it.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002959980717 Ajay Storm

Sometimes this phenomenon actually tells a story. I believe they did it in Japan very well. I remember watching a Zero-One match between Takaiwa and Lo-ki and there was a little battle of one-upsmanship midway through the match where somebody would hit a big move on the other guy who would immediately get up and hit a big move of their own before passing out. It emphasises the will to win and to not give up despite taking a beating. Then you sell the move that you originally got hit with. It’s not realistic, but it tells a story in a way that makes sense.

It reminds me of Metal. You had talented Death Metal musicians who played fast and brutal music because that’s the perfect way to tell the story, and present the world as they see it. Then you get imitators who just want to play brutal and fast because it’s brutal and fast but doesn’t convey much.

You got talented Death Metal musicians who decide to play stripped down, lo-fi Black Metal music. Then you get imitators who can’t play instruments, so the only thing they can do is imitate lo-fi Black Metal music and it sounds shit. That’s CZW and ultra-violent wrestling!

CapnFoo

I definitely see what you’re saying here. I’m more of a Punk guy than Metal, but the analogy applies to both genres. Punk is all about the emotion you play with, not necessarily what you play.
234

But as I recall, Davey Richards didn’t sell that story in this match, therefore the FIGHTINGUUUU SPIRITUUUU theory isn’t applicable here

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IBECU2SFJVG4DXNMJW6QW7TJMQ Malin

can’t see gif….
DW

If the image isn’t showing for anyone else (it isn’t for me), the source code has the image as this: http://postimage.org/image/4rbq6pucp/

http://twitter.com/Maffewgregg MaffewofBotchamania

Oh, it really wasn’t showing up for people? I thought people were being witty. Sorry about that.

Boy Feminist

Is that Davey Richards?

Lunacarrow

Yes. It’s Davey Richards against Eddie Edwards from Final Battle 2011.

Boy Feminist

Who is in the gif?
me

Kinda thought it was gonna be cool at first, like awesome superplex into out-of-ring suplex combo.
Guy in red crushed my thoughts, being douchey and suplexing himself out of the ring…

He didnt even try to sell…
HEATcomic

While from a storytelling perspective that spot is awful, I’m actually pretty impressed that Eddie Edwards didn’t smash his head into the ring apron and kill himself while suplexing himself to the floor.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002959980717 Ajay Storm

How is it awful from a storytelling perspective? The GIF takes the spot out of the context of the story.

Eugene_watson

In the context of any story it’s awful. It’s basically no selling a superplex for the sake of doing something athletically impressive.

25:17

where is the gif?
oh, and concerning all this show-off in Indy wrestling. It’s the same problem Kurt Angle has since he joined TNA, hell… since his feud with Cena in 2005
SAL Studios

Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards (mostly Davey) are just a couple of the reasons I can’t watch indy wrestling anymore. Davey Richards for some bizarre reason is being hailed as the new golden boy of the indy scene. Previous guys in that position have been guys like Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, CM Punk to name a few. The main differences between those guys and Davey is that 1. They could tell a story and 2. They could talk. Davey has some of the worst mic skills I’ve ever seen and doesn’t sell anything. He goes out and just shows off the fact he can go 60 minutes, big fucking deal. I can fuck for 3 hours but if I can make the bitch cum then what’s the point?

SAL Studios

*can’t
Adam Curry

I can’t stand either of those guys, or Roderick Strong. If anyone ever deserved the “Vanilla Midget” moniker it’s those 3, I can barely tell them apart.

Joey R.

Blame it on the kickpads
DD2

if it looks cool, fuck it. this is wrestling if you want realism stick with the mma crap

DAMN KIDS

Ever wondered where wrestling went wrong? This guy right here.

DD2

go fuck yourself i’m 31 and have probably been watching longer than you internet wrestling meme smarter than everybody else but don’t know shit mark.

PlanBFromOuterSpace

How the fuck does “I’m X years old and have been watching longer” make anyone an authority on ANYthing? For instance, I know people that have been watching movies their whole lives that don’t know a thing about filmmaking, or people that are big readers that couldn’t tell you what actually makes a good writer. I’m in my 30′s too and I’ve been watching wrestling since I was a kid, and I can honestly say that a lot of what I dug back then, mostly the stuff that just “looked cool”, just doesn’t hold up once (or IF) you start to appreciate the other stuff, like storytelling, psychology, etc. I liken it to when I’d watch horror movies, like how I used to not give a damn about something like “The Omen”, but I fucking loved some random slasher flick, because there was a really awesome-looking kill. Now, I love horror movies that have a STORY, and while I can still appreciate a good ten-second death scene in some crappy slasher flick, I can’t see what kept my attention for the rest of the ninety minutes. That same logic can be applied to just about anything, and hey, that’s great if you still like the same things about wrestling now that you’ve always liked, but saying “I’m right, because you’re probably just a kid, and I’m this many!” makes you sound like an asshole.

Andrew Hernandez

I whole-heartlessly disagree with this Indy wrestling bashing. No, I’m not saying it gets a free pass from CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, but this is nowhere near to being similar to Cena getting beat up through-out a match and then magically healing.

I do agree that less is more, and just throwing out these dangerous spots like candy isn’t practical, but Richards vs. Edwards at Final Battle was a special occasion. I don’t think they are “no selling” their injuries because its obvious that they are fighting through the pain to put on a great match
Andrew Hernandez

Furthermore, they are not showing off. Yeah, they do high spots, but they also show real technical skill. One can learn a lot about holds from watching these two battle.

Yes, when Indy wrestlers do insane slots all the time for every show with no drama behind it, it’s bad. But I don’t feel that Richards and Edwards are guilty of that, and a good number of other wrestlers are trying not to fall into that trap either.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=686527171 Samuel Pooley

LOL I knew what the .gif was going to be even when it didn’t load and I had to click it.

I subscribed to the ROH tv show last year. I’d got back into wrestling after a decade out of the game, finished catching up on the good stuff I’d missed and not feeling WWE (pre-punk/bryan summer) or TNA, I decided to give ROH and some indies my money.

Their athletic ability is not something to be sniffed at. I saw some really good stuff by ROH from the Kings of Wrestling, the Briscoes, Jimmy Jacobs, Jay Lethal, El Generico and Eddie Edwards. At times the matches did look pretty organic and spots did get pretty impressive. It never slows down though, and there is very little believable storytelling to hook you in. In my time watching ROH tv I got… Shelton Benjamin was *fined* for using a chair, as if anyone believes that bullshit in 2011 and Davey and Eddie might not be bestest bros anymore. Only the Briscoes, Steen and Generico could do a memorable promo. Athletic ability at an unrelenting pace (that doesn’t give time to sell) can only get you so far. As my year’s subscription was coming up, I was getting less excited for each installment and gave it up.

The American Wolves stuff is about as wrong as I can see the third aspect of wrestling. (1. Not knowing what the fuck you are doing, 2. Getting stuck in a formula, 3. Taking shit way too seriously). It’s not to say that long matches to prove who is the best can’t be great but when it comes to endurance, both wrestlers can’t be humorless supermen, impervious to pain. Even Cena occasionally stops to sell a move. Why ever get pinned if you can take a superplex and get straight back up and do another move? Why do we care to see if you win or lose if you are indestructable? It’s like bloody Undertaker v. Giant Gonzales for the modern era.

PWG and Chikara are still pretty fun and Chikara especially seem to have down the indie formula to a tee. That formula is, in my estimation: storytelling must make sense and be interesting whether it be the length of a match, a show or a whole story arc – you don’t have the WWE’s attention and need to just be on point whenever someone glances in yr direction.
Hitmonchan

Indie wrestling have no sub-plot, much less a plot. It’s all about “wrestling”, that is, just spots and aerial offense with lightweights. They try to pull off the Luchador style but fail horribly. At least in Lucha Libre the feuds are hyped and effectively told inside the ring as well as outside (notable post-Santo/Blue Demon examples are Hijo de el Santo vs Negro Casa; Hijo del Santo & Octagon vs Guerrero and Barr; Canek vs Mil Mascaras (as well as body-slamming Andre the Giant and other gargantuan wrestlers), ect.) Indie wrestlers can’t do that, maybe because of the relative lack of media exposure outside of the internet, but then again they’re always about shock content and not about telling the plot in the ring at a steady pace.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Von-Hertzen/100001794931565 Von Hertzen

Davey picked Eddie back up as to give him another suplex, but Eddie countered and suplexed him instead. What’s the big deal? You make it seem like Eddie got up on his own.

If I want to be bewildered, I’ll watch the WWE on a regular basis to see anger management classes and women skipping around in the ring during world title matches. Thankfully I hardly ever see any of the WWE nowadays (with the exception of their clips in Botchamania), so I don’t have to put up with the soap opera drama. Give me the fine wrestling ROH, PWG and Dragon Gate showcase any day over the crap that the WWE dishes out every week.

Meekrob

Oh, I get it. Current WWE sucks, so that means totally no-selling a superplex is cool.

It’s all so clear now.

BigBallsMcgee

American Strong Style: Don’t sell nothin’ for nobody.
cole1114

Thought this was gonna be Charade for a second there. That oughta be in Botchamania next time though.
http://www.facebook.com/thearmofbarlow Michael Miller

Look… if it can’t actually fuck someone up… I don’t buy it so don’t try to sell it. This is obviously a move that isn’t going to cripple someone when done right, otherwise every fucking wrestler would be in a wheelchair. Piledriver? Sell that shit. It can kill you. DDT? Motherfucker, SELL that shit, your face is being driven in the floor. But a superplex? Eh. Don’t care. Most of them are oversold anyway.

For fuck’s sake, if my unathletic ass can jump up after getting thrown by a guy a clear foot taller than me (Kata guruma. AKA: Attitude Adjustment, Fireman Carry Throw. As applied by a guy that’s about 6’8″), why the hell should a trained athlete used to the punishment have any trouble with a superplex?

I think that’s why I never really bought wrestling as a legit fight. Anything that comes off a rope, especially when both guys are involved, just looks like bullshit. It’s only now that I’m going back and watching old school 70′s NWA shit that I understand why people bought wrestling as a legit sport. Top rope superplex? Disbelief instantly suspended. Do whatever you want, I’m not buying it.

Oh, BTW, if you want to see all that’s GOOD and holy with the indies… King of Trios from this year.
http://twitter.com/RealChrisCutts Christopher Anthony

Hey, everybody. It’s not just Eddie and Davey that do this. Believe it or not this happens in Chikara also *gasp*. I really don’t give a shit about this at all, It’s not like Eddie jumped up and started running in place after a finisher. That spot wasn’t about showing off it was about getting a reaction from the crowd and I was at Final Battle ’11 and guess what, it got a reaction. I got an idea, how about we let the Wrestlers wrestle and we (The fans) will boo and cheer accordingly.
2343

They also used a tombstone piledriver as a transitional move.

Meekrob

Yeah, but then Okada and Naito used a tombstone *on the floor* as a transition move, and the match ended with a fucking clothesline. That’s even worse.